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NEA President-Elect Media Coverage

July 30, 2014 | SALON
For years, politicians and policy leaders have been running the nation's public education system basically by the seat of their pants, drafting and passing legislative doctrine that mostly ignores the input from classroom teachers, research experts and public school parents. Read more

August 11, 2014 | The Washington Post
She began her career in a school cafeteria, as a lunch lady. In three weeks, she will take over as head of the nation’s largest labor union, representing 3 million educators. Read more

August 15, 2014 |La Opinion
In a few days school bells will be ringing across the country signaling the start of the new school year for millions of students. This should be just another school year but because of the standardized testing requirements for both teachers and students it may turn out to be a year of protest more than of teaching and learning. Read more

August 18, 2014 | KPCC-FM
Radio coverage from NEA President-elect Lily Eskelsen García's Back to School Tour of California. Listen

August 19, 2014 | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Read about Lily Eskelsen García, who assumes the presidency of the NEA on September 1. She taught for many years in Utah, ran unsuccessfully for Congress, and was Utah’s Teacher of the Year. Read more

August 20, 2014 |EdSource
In the midst of her first swing through California, the incoming president of the National Education Association praised the Common Core State Standards and California’s measured approach in implementing them while warning that the nation’s largest teachers union would fight efforts to use the new tests for the standards in ways that “harm kids” and punish schools and teachers. Read more

August 20, 2014 | The Alamedan
Alameda charter school staffers’ decision to unionize is receiving national attention. The incoming president of the National Education Association – a national teachers union – is coming to Alameda to shine light on the organizing efforts of staffers at Alameda Community Learning Center and NEA Community Learning Center. Read more

August 21, 2014 | The Huffington Post
For years, the Obama administration has made tougher teacher evaluations a centerpiece of its education agenda, giving states incentives to grade educators partially in accordance with students' standardized test scores. But on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced most states will get a reprieve of sorts. Read more

August 21, 2014 | Washington Post
“This moratorium is a temporary measure and, while good, it is just a first step,” said NEA President-elect Lily Eskelsen García, who represents 3 million members. “We must end these absurd practices and replace them with a system that serves each and every single student’s needs and that prepares all students for college or careers.” Read more

August 22, 2014 | New America Media
Stories about Lily Eskelsen García typically mention the fact her career began as a lunch lady in a local school in her native Utah. But the new head of the nation’s largest teacher’s union, the National Education Association, offers a slightly different take: “I was the salad girl,” she said. “They wouldn’t even trust me with hot food.” Read more

August 22, 2014 | Education Week
The soon-to-be president of the National Education Association is visiting a charter school in Alameda, CA on Friday. But NEA President-elect Lily Eskelsen García isn't holding a press conference at just any charter, it's one with a unionized staff—a rarity in the charter sector—and she's there to highlight its state affiliate's new focus on organizing charter schools. Read more

August 22, 2014 | NEA Today
Calling college affordability “the universal cause that will unite educators, students, parents and communities,” NEA President-elect Lily Eskelsen García spent the second day of NEA’s Back-to-School tour shining the spotlight on Degrees Not Debt, the national campaign to reduce crushing student loan debt and make college more affordable to all. Read more

August 22, 2014 | Los Angeles Times
Lily Eskelsen García has a history that reads like a made-for-TV movie: She began her education career making salads in a school cafeteria and was nudged toward college by a kindergarten teacher who liked the way the 18-year-old related to young children. She paid her college bills with folk-singing gigs, graduated magna cum laude, and nine years later, in 1989, was Utah’s Teacher of the Year. Read more

August 22, 2014 | Al Jazeera America
Lily Eskelsen García: Tenure is making sure that a good teacher cannot be fired. Tenure is due process. Most states like mine, in Utah, we don't even use the word "tenure." After a probationary period, after you've met your performance expectations and you've had good evaluations, when you get to that level that says now you have tenure, it simply means if you are going to be fired, you get two things: You get to know why you're being fired, and if you believe you're being fired unfairly, you get a chance to defend yourself in front of a hearing officer. Read more

August 22, 2014 | KCBS San Francisco
California educators have joined a national effort aimed at reducing student loan debt and making college more affordable for families. Read more

August 22, 2014 | KCBS-AM San FranciscoDegrees, Not Debt campaign kickoff at La Esquelita elementary school: The national campaign was launched in May by National Education Association President-elect Lily Eskelsen García. Listen